Free smoking cessation mobile apps available in Australia: a quality review and content analysis

Despite the ubiquity of smartphone ownership and the increasing integration of social engagement features in smoking cessation apps to engage users, thesocial engagement features that exist in current smoking cessation apps and how effective these social features are in engaging users remain unclear. To fill the gap in the literature, a content analysis of free and paid smoking cessation mobile apps isconducted to examine a) the presence of socialengagement features(e.g., social support, social announcement, social referencing) and non-social engagement features (e.g., personal environmental changes, goal setting), and b) their relationship with user ratingsand engagement scores (e.g., Mobile App rating scale [MARS]). The findings will not only extend the mobile health apps engagement typology,but also inform smoking cessation mobile apps design.

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Content analysis of behavior change techniques in popular mobile apps for smoking cessation in France. (Preprint)

JMIR mhealth and uhealth ◽

10.2196/26082 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Luz Bustamante ◽

Cédric Gill Ménard ◽

Sabrina Julien ◽

Lucia Romo

Keyword(s):

Smoking Cessation ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Behavior Change ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Behavior Change Techniques

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Theory-Based Social and Non-Social Engagement Features in Smoking Cessation Mobile Apps: A Content Analysis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18179106 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (17) ◽

pp. 9106

Author(s):

Qinghua Yang

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Smoking Cessation ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Social Engagement ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Mobile App ◽

Social Referencing ◽

User Engagement ◽

The Social

Despite the ubiquity of smartphone ownership and the increasing integration of social engagement features in smoking cessation apps to engage users, the social and non-social engagement features that are present in current smoking cessation apps and the effectiveness of these features in engaging users remain understudied. To fill the gap in the literature, a content analysis of free and paid smoking cessation mobile apps was conducted to examine (a) the presence of social features (i.e., social support, social announcement, and social referencing) and non-social engagement features (e.g., personal environmental changes, goal setting, progress tracking, reinforcement tracking, self-monitoring, and personalized recommendations) and (b) their relationships with user engagement scores measured by the Mobile App Rating Scale. In this study, 28.2% of the smoking cessation apps enable social announcement and 8.1% offered the social support feature. Only two apps provided a social referencing feature (1.3%). No app included reinforcement tracking, with the percentage of other non-social engagement features ranging from 9.4% to 49.0%. Social support (β = 0.30, p < 0.001), social announcement (β = 0.21, p < 0.05), and social referencing (β = 0.18, p < 0.05) were significant predictors of user engagement. Regarding the non-social engagement features, personal environment changes (β = 0.38, p < 0.001), progress tracking (β = 0.18, p < 0.05), and personalized recommendations (β = 0.37, p < 0.001) significantly predicted user engagement. The findings not only contribute to the mobile communication literature by applying and extending the theory-based mobile health apps engagement typology, but also inform the future architecture design of smoking cessation mobile apps.

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Content analysis of behavior change techniques in popular mobile apps for smoking cessation in France. (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.26082 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Luz Bustamante ◽

Cédric Gill Ménard ◽

Sabrina Julien ◽

Lucia Romo

Keyword(s):

Smoking Cessation ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Mobile App ◽

Smoking Cessation Treatment ◽

Content Quality ◽

Cessation Treatment ◽

General Quality

BACKGROUND The mobile app market differs from country to country, and to date no previous review of smoking cessation applications (apps) content quality has been conducted in France. OBJECTIVE The current review aims to examine the general quality of the most popular smoking cessation apps in France and also determine the degree to which apps adhere to established behavioral and cognitive techniques (BCT’s) proven effective in clinical practice. METHODS A systematic research of smoking cessation apps was conducted in both Google Play and Apple store in the French market. The general quality of popular apps was rated with the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) and the therapeutical quality was assessed with the ratio of adherence of the BCT taxonomy for smoking cessation treatment. RESULTS 14 mobile apps met all the inclusion criteria of the content analysis. The inter-rater reliability varies from “substantial’ (0,79) to “almost perfect” (0,9) for both measures. The mean MARS score was 3,5 out of 5 (median 3,1- IQR 1,3). Findings suggest that popular apps focused primary on the functionality dimension of the MARS scale (4.2 out of 5). The average number of BCT techniques was 22, with a huge difference between apps (min=4/max=38). At least half of the apps addressed motivation (63%) and advise on using behavioral skills in order to quit or stay nonsmoker (62%). However, only a handful of apps gathered important information (42%) in order to deliver proper advice regarding the use of approved medication or the implementation of the behavioral techniques (31%). The average MARS score was positively correlated with the price (r = .70, p = < .001), and with the number of BCT’s used (r = .66, p = < .005). User rating was not correlated with any quality scale. CONCLUSIONS Content quality of popular smoking cessation apps in France varied by app type and price. Most popular apps propose in general a good quality content but lack the implementation of evidence based BCT’s associated with effectiveness on smoking cessation treatment. Further research is needed to evaluate the improvement of the quality content of smoking cessation apps in France.

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Abstract C095: A quality review and content analysis of mobile applications for smoking cessation

10.1158/1538-7755.disp18-c095 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ifeoma Ibe ◽

Antonio Laracuente ◽

Samantha Joseph ◽

Jinhai Huo ◽

Ramzi Salloum

Keyword(s):

Smoking Cessation ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Mobile Applications ◽

Quality Review

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Behavior change techniques utilized in Canadian online smoking cessation programs: A content analysis (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.35234 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Laura Struik ◽

Danielle Rodberg ◽

Ramona Sharma

Keyword(s):

Smoking Cessation ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Behavior Change ◽

Evaluation Framework ◽

Behavior Change Techniques ◽

Web Based ◽

Critical Gap ◽

The Government ◽

Government Of Canada ◽

Website Content

BACKGROUND Smoking rates in Canada remain unacceptably high, and cessation rates have stalled in recent years. Online cessation programs, touted for their ability to reach many different populations anytime, have shown promise in their efficacy. The Government of Canada has therefore funded provincial and national smoking cessation websites across the country. However, little is known about the behavior change techniques (BCTs) that underpin the content of these websites, which is key to establishing the quality of the websites, as well as a way forward for evaluation. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study, therefore, was to apply the BCTTv1 taxonomy to Canadian provincial and federal websites and determine which BCTs they use. METHODS A total of 12 government-funded websites across Canada were included for analysis. Using deductive content analysis, and through training in applying the BCTTv1 taxonomy, the website content was coded according to the 93 BCTs across the 16 BCT categories. RESULTS Of the 16 BCT categories, 14 were present within the websites. The most widely represented BCT categories (used in all 12 websites) included: 1. Goals and planning, 3. Social support, 5. Natural consequences, and 11. Regulation. The most saturated BCT categories (those most heavily used) included: 10. Reward and threat, 12. Antecedents, 1. Goals and planning, and 5. Natural consequences. Implementation of BCTs within these categories varied across the sites. CONCLUSIONS This study addresses a critical gap in knowledge around the behavior change techniques that underpin government-funded smoking cessation websites in Canada. The findings offer programmers and researchers with tangible directions for prioritizing and enhancing provincial and national smoking cessation programs, and an evaluation framework to assess smoking cessation outcomes in relation to the web-based content.

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